


To Hunt, One Last Time

by 2001HondaCivicRampage



Category: Bloodborne (Video Game)
Genre: Letters are in First Person (I apologise) but everything else is in Third Person, Ludwig deserves better and I shall die on that hill, Pre-Canon, detailed descriptions of body horror and pain, implied relationship of Ludwig/Laurence, no beta we die strong and stupid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:14:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28285314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2001HondaCivicRampage/pseuds/2001HondaCivicRampage
Summary: Short chapters detailing Ludwig's final hunt and the sickness of blood-drunkeness and the scourge in his final days as a human and hunter.
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm playing Bloodborne in NG+ atm and I am eternally reminded how much everyone suffers. So here I am making it worse and basically adding stories and thoughts that canon will never provide.  
> I thought after everything Ludwig would have been through he would be considerably more reserved and downright regreatful of his actions and even the Church as an institution, so I want to play around with those ideas and see how it goes. 
> 
> Advice is always welcome as I want to get better at wrtiting creatively :)

_Possibly August 3 rd? year unknown, time has no meaning any longer_

_The pain worsens with each day, soon I will no longer be able to hide it in secrecy, it has already become apparent to Amelia, my hunters are soon to realise. I cannot afford to have them lose faith in me, not now, not as I am and not when Yharnam is more perilous with each night._

_My memories of the hunts are foggy, and increasingly more so with each night. Oh Laurence, is this what it was like for you? As your body twisted and your mind warped slowly you dreaded losing who you were? My bones and teeth ache constantly and my cranium throbs without break, I know for a fact that the blood spilt on the hunts is increasingly alluring, to be drenched in it is nothing short of a sweet victory. It’s a good thing you were never a hunter, I would have hated for you to feel that horror. Though I am glad that my eyes are dark, otherwise I truly could not hide the blood-drunkenness, Gods, to know, to know that I am just a beast possessed degenerate, it’s too poetic, my critics were correct. Bringing the civilians into it was a mistake, my mistake. They've already suffered because of me..._

_I doubt my guidance can relieve me of this, and though I do not fear becoming a beast, I fear what kind of beast I will become, and if I will slaughter my own hunters only to then be slaughtered by them in an eternal dance of the visceral and maniacal._

_Is this what it all led to? Was my life just one bloody mistake?_ _Was all that I learnt of the Great Ones and the Old Blood for this?_ _Was it Laurence? Was your Research Hall and 'experiments' worth it?_ _I_

_learnt it all, even that I still cannot quite comprehend._

_Eyes… Eyes and Blood._

_Where is my guidance? I have no fears with it, I have none without it any longer._

_Guidance? I don’t wish to know what it was even now… moonlight..._

Ludwig convulsed again and doubled over, coughing blood onto the shakily written, barely comprehensible letter to the deceased. He winced as he waited for the scorching heat to rescind from his body, before shuddering and pulling into himself.

He choked back another cough before relenting and hacking up more blood and flesh into his glove. He gritted his bloodstained teeth, but it only caused a shockwave of nerve pain to ricochet through his skull. Ludwig exhaled sharply and looked outside the large window to Cathedral Ward and Central Yharnam beyond that, dusk was approaching quickly and soon the moon would rise and herald the beginning of the hunt. Ludwig could already feel the anticipation rise within him from the dark recesses of his psyche, even with his increasingly poor vision from his collapsed pupils, he could see the denizens of Cathedral Ward running to their homes and places of worship whilst the black and white garbed hunters began to gather in small groups, weapons gleaming and eyes wide with both fear and anticipation

Tonight, was the night.

Ludwig looked to his hand and gently pulled off the glove, the leather pulling feeling like razorblades against his hypersensitive skin. The claws were longer still, and bloody around the base, he could feel the longer fur on his outer-arms prickling along the sleeves as well.

This was it.

Ludwig swallowed bloody mucus down and forced the glove back on, reaching down to his desk and picking up a reflective, gemstone laid badge in the shape of the hilt of a sword he ran his thumb across it before forcing it around his neck with difficulty, nearly crying out as it brushed against the most agonising section at the base of the right of his neck. This was it, this was the night, no matter what, it was his last hunt.

Ludwig slowly bent down to the draws and grasped at two large blood vials filled with a particularly high dosage of blood taken from Amelia herself. A gift, knowing it was one of the few values of blood that would ease the pain. Ludwig grimaced as he selected the first vial and attached the metal needle tip, jammed it in his upper thigh, letting it all flow in before picking up the second. He breathed a laboured sigh of relief as the pain was numbed, _just_ numbed, it was still there, screaming behind the increasingly feeble wall of ministered blood. But he needed this to survive, not just because he knew he was addicted, but because without it he would barely be able to walk let alone lead the hunt.

Ludwig reached across and picked up the Holy Moonlight Sword, still untransformed, a seemingly dull, unimpressive weapon, and yet even like this he could feel the arcane energy and wisdom it held within it. The hunter reached up and fastened to his back, thankful it didn’t graze the right of his neck, he straightened his cloak and slowly pushed the door to his chambers open, allowing the rush of chilled, smoke and incense choked air to greet him. He exhaled sharply again and cleared his throat once again, feeling for the kerchief embroidered with the hunter chief emblem in one of the pocket of his jacket, Gods he hoped it was a quick hunt, of all the hunts, gods he hoped that this one was that he could trust to not to result in all the deaths of the hunters and civilians alike.

But either way, if he didn’t do it tonight, he feared the danger he would present would be too much for even his strongest hunters to deal with.

Ludwig cleared his throat of blood again as he mentally prepared himself. For the hunt, and whatever lay beyond that. 

He closed his eyes and laughed without any sense of humour, “May the good blood guide our way,” he muttered.


	2. Chapter 2

_August perhaps, date unknown, year unknown, time has no longer has any meaning…_

_Oh, scrap of paper, I shall have to attach you to the journal later._

_Laurence, I want you to watch me, as I did you when you were succumbing. I can already feel the bloodlust, my vision is fading. But gods I wish to at least pretend I can feel your presence..._

_Even from this small, isolated alleyway, I can still feel you._

_But then again, the whole of Yharnam feels your presence, whether it be the jaws of beasts that were once family members, colleagues and community members, or the services and ministration you developed._

_You may not have caused the apocalypse by yourself, I helped you in my stupidity and blind faith, and raised a whole generation of hunters only to be forced into a massacre night after night for your precious control of Yharnam and ascension of humanity._

_I started off in the Labyrinths under Yharnam, saw the ruins of Pthumeru and Loran. I gained eyes Laurence. And now, Yharnam is destined to fall as they did, and I die as a degenerated beast… Good, it’s all I deserve._

_But please, if there are any higher forces, any Great Ones that can hear me. Please, please let me take on the pain of all the hunters so they can be freed. Free them from this night, by the Moonlight, by the guidance, please help… help them all._

_Blood… hunt…_

The hunter drew his sword back and in a swift, forceful forward motion, allowed the weapon to alight and release the arcane energy right into the chest of the scourge beast. He gleefully grinned as he watched its organs explode in a grizzly mass of flesh and blood as it’s wailing cries dulled.

_Blood… hunt…_

The hunter turned to the next beast and side stepped as the repugnant creature lunged for him, teeth gnashing and bloodstained claws swiping, but in his mania, the hunters uncoordinated movements resulted in him overstepping and splaying his limbs slightly, giving the large, dark beast a chance to snap at his shoulder. As its fangs collided with his flesh he cried out in both pain and the sheer satisfaction of the blood flow. Euphoric, almost too much to bear. No administered blood could ever compete.

Ludwig yelled back at the beast as he backstepped and with all his might, swung forward and collided his fist with the beast’s jaw, relishing in the crack, the spurt of blood and the pained yelps. Before the beast even knew what had occurred, a glowing, aqua blade had sliced through the flesh and viscera of its neck, inciting another triumphant yell of the hunter as he was doused with the blood of the beast in a grotesque christening.

_Blood… hunt…_

The hunter breathed out deeply and closed his eyes for a moment as he watched the corpse of the beast fall and convulse slightly, but the victory was short as he could already hear another beast approach him in the dark depths of the dry docks. He grasped his sword tightly in both hands and grinned ecstatically as the rather strange scent of this beast got more pronounced; acrid against the scent of gunpowder, rot and of course, blood, rivers of blood that ran thick and deep into the putrid water below. 

He heard the beast growl something distant, almost muted. It mattered not; a beast was a beast, and a hunter should always be ready for anything. Ludwig hunched over and waited, listening intently over the pounding of his own heart, he stared at the arcane energy flowing through his sword and grinned with bloodstained teeth, he saw the brief sprites of guidance dance across his vision. It seemed to be trying to get him to move forward… away from the beast…

_No… Not yet…_

Ludwig lowered his stance, he could smell the beast, it’s sweat, the stench of blood that clung to it and the noises it made were too enticing, too much to just leave.

He released another sharp, silent breath. He felt the beast just behind him. He could almost feel its rancid breath on him, caressing the back of his neck in such way that made him shudder with revulsion. He heard it screech again, and this time, he responded.

Ludwig whipped back and lunged forward, drawing his sword to the side, gathering the arcane energy as he turned to face the beast. He could barely see it, a blurred mass of black, it seemed to one of the matured beasts, albeit, rather small. Too easy. He made out that the beast backed away, cowering almost as he brought his sword forward, he grinned, and the beast screamed again.

Before it could back away anymore, he sliced its arm right off, the blood spurting euphorically. He followed the swing with turning his body to the side and slamming his shoulder into the beast’s chest, and as it fell to the ground, he declared himself executioner as he raised his sword and with one strong swing, brought it down upon the beast’s neck, slicing right through the bone, viscera and muscles.

The beast made no sound, its body went limp and crashed to the ground.

Ludwig rasped a breath out and brushed his long tangles of dark, blood drenched hair back, only smearing the blood further into his scalp. The pain had dissipated, he could hear nothing but his own heart pounding so loudly it may burst from his already tight and pained chest. He rasped out another breath and brought his sword to sit over his shoulder, his vision blurring even more as he steadied himself.

As he went to turn away from the still convulsing corpse of the beast, he cast it one last look and stepped, only to hear something scrape on the stones slick with blood. He glanced down and furrowed his brow, it was an axe, one used by hunters, in this form it was usually paired with a firearm. Ludwig felt his throat tighten as the bloodlust slowly began to lessen, his breathing quickened as he forced himself to look up to the corpse of the beast.

_No… Gods… No Gods No!_

Ludwig felt his blood run so cold it was frigid.

_The corpse… Oh gods…_

Ludwig turned away and retched, but all that came up was bile and blood from his disintegrating body. The corpse continued to leak dark blood, spurting from the arteries occasionally, face increasingly sickly in his gruesome death. Ludwig knew his name, Raphael, he was a new recruit from the far south. He was just a boy, barely a man even if he asserted otherwise, already cloaked in the black and white attire of a Church Hunter, wide eyed and ready to defend Yharnam so he could afford blood healing to save his grandmother he had brought with him. The boy lay there, head severed, and face still frozen in fear, he had come for his captain, to see if he was okay? Or to seek help? Perhaps to have his fears calmed by someone he was supposed to trust and place his faith in?

Ludwig bit back a strained sob. He didn’t deserve to feel guilty; he had slaughtered the boy without a second thought… and enjoyed it.

The blood on the young hunter’s corpse was still near intoxicating. But that was it.

He had done this; he couldn’t escape this. He had sworn to disappear, to vanish and hunt beasts until his death alone… _Gods why didn’t I leave sooner_ …

Ludwig’s anguished beathing turned in a controlled hiss. He reached around his neck and with a sharp tug, pulled off his badge. He looked to the corpse and cast it to the ground beside the severed arm of the corpse. This ended now, he was just glad he hadn’t killed anyone else, not that it somehow lessened this deed. He was vile, he knew that he had tried, tried so hard to uphold honour and faith… for what… why?

Ludwig coughed up bloody mucus again and wiped his mouth roughly, smearing blood both into and away from his mouth, it was rather pointless given he was drenched. He stared at the corpse and shuddered.

_Please, please find peace… I’m sorry I brought you into this…_

Eventually the hunter painfully slung the sword over his shoulder and turned around… only to be greeted with the sight of another human corpse.

And then another… and another…

Ludwig could have screamed…

A Church Doctor clad in the signature white robes splattered with blood, pooling and darkening around them, a woman, an executioner who had agreed to assist with the hunt tonight. And beyond her, another young hunter, their black robes barely defined from the dark blood that enveloped them.

Every one of them. No claw marks, no bite marks, just long lacerations or burn marks that could have only come from arcane weaponry.

Ludwig felt his knees give way beneath him. And he screamed before he felt his mind become enveloped with fog and his body alight with excruciating pain.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyhting is falling apart, the hunt is senseless, but at the very least Amelia is able to provide some sanity.

_What day was it?_

_What was the date? Where am I?_

_Day… day unknown… breathing… hard… gods… no… pain_

_Pain_

_Pain_

_Blood…_

_Need… for… blood… H-u…n t._

Ludwig tried to pry his eyes open, but they barely responded to any mental command. He tried to move any part of his body, but it appeared to be made of an exceptionally painful lead, both causing him agony and weighing him down to where even considering moving was an effort.

Ludwig eventually managed to pry an eye open but was only greeted by nothingness. Confused he manage to raise a clawed hand to try and clear it, but no matter how much he rubbed, his vision never adjusted, it was blank, entirely blank. In a dull surprise he forced his other eye open and with a sense of both relief and fear, he saw a blurred, but clearly functional space around him.

He was perceiving what was around him in blurred, disjointed vision, that was all for the moment.

“…d….n’t……ove…”

A sound, gently and soft yet it pierced his mind like a spear and caused him to wince. He heard the voice again, and in the moment of uncoordinated stupor, he thrashed even though his body rejected every movement and forced himself onto his back. He thought he cried out in pain, but he couldn’t tell, not with his distorted hearing.

“…w..ig…”

The voice again, and suddenly there was something dark looming over him, and something cold as ice being pressed to his forehead. He snarled but the cold object only pressed more firmly, he felt it move up and down his face, like razors against his skin. He tried to determine the details of the shape above him, tried to move, but there was nothing, no response, no action. He just felt the desire to kill this thing above him claw from the recesses of his mind, and he barred his bloodstained teeth again.

“S…op!” The voice pierced through his mind, he hissed and slammed his eyes shut, blocking out whatever was happening. But as soon as he did, he felt himself calm for some reason, he just felt exhausted suddenly, like he had run for days on end and fought his way through legions of beasts. Jut focusing on his breathing, he allowed whatever was happening to occur for the moment.

_Slow, slow the heartbeat, focus on the breath and gather strength…_

“Ludwig? Can you hear me now?”

Ludwig gasped and forced his eyes open, he still couldn’t see from his right, but from his left, his vision was adjusting to the low light… and to the pale face above him. It was no beast, thank the gods. He could make out a sea of white and pale silvers, and felt the cold hit his face again, it was still painful, but he could at least now tell it wasn’t razorblades or even ice, but a damp cloth. Someone was fruitlessly attempting to mop the blood that had been almost entirely ingrained on him. He sighed and narrowed his gaze at the figure, desperately searching for features that would distinguish them. Eventually his distorted vision came to rest on a gold glimmer, seemingly on the chest area, like a necklace… or a pendant. 

“…Ahh…Ah…Ame-liahhh.” The hunter rasped out.

Amelia grimaced as she looked down to the hunter, moving his head slightly in order to better get to the hairline and try to wipe away some of the encrusted blood that seemed to almost be a natural part of the hunter. He was still clearly disorientated, barely functioning, but he was alive for the moment, for as long as he had left. She drew her lips into a thin line as she struggled to remove and not smear any of the blood, but it was impossible, she sighed sharply and looked to his eyes, he was staring right at her, seemingly both panicked and calm as he recognised her through his collapsed pupils, though his right eye seemed to have cataracted, or at least discoloured; likely from a laceration and infection. Amelia shuddered as she turned away and through the cloth into a crimson bucket of water, trying to get some of the blood out before wringing it out and folding it, placing it on his scorching forehead.

Amelia moved slightly, earning and jolt of either fear or aggression from the hunter, but she wasn’t deterred, she could feel the blade strapped to her leg, she had trained well enough to know if he made an aggressive move his throat would run red. A part of her told herself that it was mercy really. Amelia moved to his right hand, and pulled up the sleeve to the elbow, although there was very little material and with this stage of the scourge, the arms had lengthened and thinned, and the flesh was sinewy; proof the scourge was had matured and was reaching finality within him. The claws had lengthened and darkened as well, all natural and regrettably normal signs of the scourge, though like all other clerics, magnified by exposure and use of blood.

The part that had her confused her scientific mind the most was the wound on the right of his neck, she had never seen anything like it as it extended and tore the material of his cloak. In the dull candlelight it looked like a bloody, cancerous tumour that would have at least been the size of a closed fist, and though it could be a trick of the light, it appeared to pulse now and again. Amelia chose to ignore it for the moment and reach around to the bag she had managed to throw together when he had found Ludwig collapsed in the Grand Cathedral, a corpse or two littering the stairs through the courtyards, and the disfigured body of a hunter inside who had seemingly been reaching up to the alter… to Laurence…

Ludwig shuddered at her touch, which was magnified by his hypersensitivity, “A…meli-a-“

“Don’t speak! Save your energy.” She hissed, taking his right hand and beginning to bandage his lacerated wrist, pulling it taught before tucking it in and moving to inspect his hand again. How many familiar hands had she held whilst she administered blood, or told them it was all going to be alright as their claws dug into her? But even with all those patients and Ludwig now… all she could think of was the final embrace Laurence had given her, all those years ago when she was still just a child… claws digging into her back, patches of fur irritating her skin and antlers gently prodding her as he entrusted his pendant to her and told her how he wished he could have spent more time with her, before looking into her with those sad, sickened yellow eyes and saying she would make a fine Vicar. Amelia cast a glance to the skull that sat on the alter. Antlers removed, skull fractured from being ended by the same hunter he had loved, and below that, the hunter lay near-dead, trying to make sense of his last days.

“Amelia…”

The cleric snapped from her thoughts as she noticed Ludwig’s hand clasping her wrist.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do any better, I’m sorry to the you, Yharnam, and the hunters of the Church… I failed you all…” Ludwig rasped softly, before coughing up more dark red blood.

Amelia moved to take his hand and remove it from her arm, moving to clasp it between her own, “Ludwig, your actions during these last weeks don’t discredit almost a lifetime of service and valour, I th-“

“Please Amelia, I didn’t steal something or hurt someone’s feelings, I slaughtered my own hunters… and enjoyed it…” Ludwig interjected before wincing and gritting his teeth as his body alighted with another shockwave of heat.

Amelia fell silent before grimacing and reaching into her bag, rummaging around before pulling out a reflective hunter’s badge and holding it close so Ludwig could see. The hunter grimaced and averted his gaze from the object.

“Ludwig, we found this near four slaughtered hunters and even more beasts about three weeks ago. We u-“

“Three weeks!” Ludwig interjected, bloodshot eyes widening and seemingly beginning to panic as his breathing quickened. 

Amelia pressed down on the cloth on his forehead and slipped the badge to the side of her, “Ludwig everyone believes you to be dead or vanished, I thought you were, I thought I had lost you as well… and now you show up collapsed in the Grand Cathedral, drenched in blood and viscera! Do you have any memories at all? Please Ludwig…” She pleaded softly, grasping his hand more firmly.

Ludwig convulsed slightly as more blood ran from his mouth and slightly leaked from his ears, his eyes became unfocused for a moment before beginning to cough so violently, Amelia reached down and encouraged him into a sitting position, leaning him against the alter. Ludwig shuddered and drew his knees closer to his chest before glancing to the side and a sense of relief flooding him. His sword was still there, that’s what mattered at the moment, and Amelia was here, and he supposed Laurence was here… in a way. Ludwig looked between his sword, Amelia’s cold yet caring gaze and though he couldn’t see the skull, he knew it was there…

Ludwig narrowed his gaze and inclined his head to Amelia, shakily and with a great deal of pain. She leaned in closer, pale eyes steely.

“Amelia… I know Laurence would be proud of you, I know you didn’t do it for him, but gods… You really will make a wonderful Vicar.”

Amelia only gave a curt nod, and released his hand, moving aside to her bag. Ludwig grunted as he leant against the alter and tried to force himself to a standing position, gripping his sword for support. Amelia gritted her teeth as she saw him hunched over, unable to straighten up from the sickening transformation nearing completion, and yet he was still taller than he had ever been, towering above her and shrouded in shadow and flickering candlelight as bloody saliva dripped to the ground. He looked like nothing short of a disintegrating demon.

“Ludwig, I’ve got blood if you would like, it’ll help with the pain.” Amelia offered, feeling the cold vials underneath her fingers.

Ludwig convulsed again and gritted his teeth before looking to her, collapsed and white eye staring right though her, “No need, it’s all over now… the moonlight… I can still see it… that’s all I need, but… thank you…”

Amelia narrowed her gaze and stood up, pulling back the hood of her robe, “Then what shall you do?”

Ludwig’s breathing came in audible rasps as he looked to his sword, glowing a gentle aqua and managed a slight, pained smile, “To return this until someone more worthy than I, can bind themselves to it.”


End file.
